This patent discloses and claims a useful, novel, and unobvious invention for an automobile instrument panel, including an air bag device and a seamless outer cover.
One issue that has recently been a concern with air bag devices installed in automobiles is that the air bag must preserve the aesthetic appeal of the automobile, but at the same time, deploy outward through the instrument panel with minimal interference. In a hard molded instrument panel, the air bag must be able to break through the instrument panel, but the instrument panel itself must be structurally sound and resistant to inadvertent fracturing at or near the point where the air bag is meant to deploy. For this reason, there is a need in the industry for continuous improvements on an air bag door in a hard molded instrument panel.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention an instrument panel for an automobile passenger compartment includes a substrate with an interior surface and an exterior surface. A pre-weakened outline is formed within the interior surface and defines a panel door within the substrate. A chute is mounted to the interior surface and includes a front surface with an opening extending therethrough, wherein the front surface extends around the opening. The opening within the chute is smaller than the pre-weakened outline defining the panel door such that the pre-weakened outline is covered by the front surface of the chute when the chute is mounted to the interior surface.